If this is your first Winter here in New York than you need to know that winter is going to last for a while and it is going to be cold so be prepared. Make sure you have nice warm coats, snow pants, good (long) gloves and boots. You don't want to go to cheap with your winter gear or you will be replacing them often or you will just be cold all the time. If you can I would suggest buying a snow blower.
I couldn't get one used since we got here in October and the good used ones were gone at that point so I just went to Lowes (which has a militarty discount) and purchased a new one. Make sure if you do buy a snow blower you get one with a Electric starter, that way you aren't spending all your time just trying to start the thing. This last winter Oct 2012- Feb 2013 had a good amount of snow and since my husband was deployed I was greatful for the snowblower. I spend many hours outside snow blowing. Since I had my two boys I would snow blow for a while then put them to bed and then go back out and snow blow some more (since it had snowed more). If you dont' keep on the snow it just its higher and higher and is harder to get out.
Icicles are obviously going to happen so watch out for those. Try knocking them down before they get to big or they could hurt someone when they fall. We had some that got to be 3.5 feet long. The city is pretty good at keeping the snow clear but they do use lots of salt so make sure you wash your car ones a week our it will start to rust.
So yes there is a lot of work during the winter but don't forget to have fun too. Thompson Park which I mentioned on a different post has great sledding hills. Head over there and have a great time. Just be careful because they put hail bails at the end of the hill to prevent sledder from going into the road, but they freeze fast and become hard like a block of ice. We had a friend run into one while sledding with his kids and he ended up breaking his leg. So don't sled where it is super steep. After sledding make sure you warm up with some yummy hot chocolate and marshmallow or apple cider.
I couldn't get one used since we got here in October and the good used ones were gone at that point so I just went to Lowes (which has a militarty discount) and purchased a new one. Make sure if you do buy a snow blower you get one with a Electric starter, that way you aren't spending all your time just trying to start the thing. This last winter Oct 2012- Feb 2013 had a good amount of snow and since my husband was deployed I was greatful for the snowblower. I spend many hours outside snow blowing. Since I had my two boys I would snow blow for a while then put them to bed and then go back out and snow blow some more (since it had snowed more). If you dont' keep on the snow it just its higher and higher and is harder to get out.
Icicles are obviously going to happen so watch out for those. Try knocking them down before they get to big or they could hurt someone when they fall. We had some that got to be 3.5 feet long. The city is pretty good at keeping the snow clear but they do use lots of salt so make sure you wash your car ones a week our it will start to rust.
So yes there is a lot of work during the winter but don't forget to have fun too. Thompson Park which I mentioned on a different post has great sledding hills. Head over there and have a great time. Just be careful because they put hail bails at the end of the hill to prevent sledder from going into the road, but they freeze fast and become hard like a block of ice. We had a friend run into one while sledding with his kids and he ended up breaking his leg. So don't sled where it is super steep. After sledding make sure you warm up with some yummy hot chocolate and marshmallow or apple cider.
